


The Dream of Manjusaka

by The_Mysterious_Guest



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Flower laguages, Minor Character Death, Sad, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 09:19:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12767865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mysterious_Guest/pseuds/The_Mysterious_Guest
Summary: Manjusaka or Red Spider Lily is the flower that belief to blooms at the shore of the Underworld. The flower that represented eternal separation, of star-crossed lovers who never be able to meet again.





	The Dream of Manjusaka

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason, most of my recent fics have something to do with flowers and flower meanings/ symbolisms. The Internet can have so many different information or not at all XD.

The earth has been favored by millions of nature spirits since the beginning of time; they bring to the land trees and grass, the colors of fruits and plants, a home for animals.  
Among them is an extremely unique flower with an equally intriguing guardian spirit. 

With petals that are red as blood. They covered the pathway to Underworld along the calm silvery river that divides the realm of the living and the dead. From afar, it looks like a field of burning fire created by the glorious ever burning Phoenix, an unparalleled breathtaking beauty. 

She is the only flower that dared to bloom in the endless night of Underworld. 

Her flowers field became the only color that existed among the Darkness that reigns over the realm, giving all the departed souls one last comfort before reaching their final destination. 

A spark of red in the sea of blackness.

[The gentleness of Death]

Over times, the deities called her flowers “Higanbana”, the flowers that bloom on the far shore of the Sanzu River; or “Manjusaka”, “Lycoris radiata”. None of these names were something she could feel connected to, in fact she doesn't think she truly has one. So she quietly accepted what other deities called her. At least it gave her a sense of identity.

Sitting amongst the blooming crimson of fire, the spirit of Higanbana in her white dress dreamed in her slumber. And yet her bright eyes did not leave the soul that just arrived and is walking toward the blooming fiery field. She gets lost in thought of a distance past.

She used to have a name, a long, long time ago. A precious gift given to her by a mortal man.

“Rey.”

His voice was always so soft and warm. So loving as it cut through her bleeding soul. 

The Manjusaka spirit silently eyes the soul as some of his memories arise from the depths of his mind. Her face remains emotionless, not giving away the truth that there is a raging storm tormenting her heart.

He loved her once, with all his heart and soul till the very end. 

She loved him once, but she returned that love too late.

And she lost him forever.

It was exactly a hundred years ago; she was a young spirit then. The mortals fascinated her, as she watched them dying for love, killing for pride, turning a blind eye to the sorrow of others or becoming blinded by greed. Their souls’ radiance in many shades of colors corresponded to their deeds in life. 

She begged the king of the Underworld for a chance to be reborn as a mortal so that for one life she could experience the life of a mortal. He accepted and granted her wish.

And so she was born into a normal farming family in a small peaceful town. She grew up in the love and caring of her parents. 

It was then that she met him.

A young talented healer, beloved by all.

Once there was a child that came down with a high fever but the family was too far away, and a storm was raging outside. The kid was surely not going to make it by morning without treatment. Upon hearing the news, he braced himself against the weather in the dark to travel to the poor family as quick as he could, and carried all the necessary herbs and equipment with him. His compassion as well as his dedication was what saved the child. 

But ingenuity comes hand in hand with misery. 

A jealous sorcerer upon pain of death decided to curse him out of hatred for his family, as his ancestors once defeated the evil warlock and destroyed his schemes. His once handsome appearance became hideous. No longer a man but a beast.

He was feared. The once welcoming town turned against him, driving him out, into the depths of the cursed forest. There he would remain till the end of time.

Ever since then, sorrowful cries echo through the woods at nightfall. Sometimes a shadow can be seen lurking in the dark, looking at the town with such sadness that no words could describe. Agony that reached out to heaven above, as the sky cried for this poor unfortunate soul and then turned angry towards the betrayal of the town.

Drought tormented the landscape as nature retrieved herself further away, animals shielded themselves from mankind. The once picturesque scenery turned lifeless as the sun burned the green plants into golden empty shells. Famine and diseases plagued the town, bringing nothing but pain and death.

“None of this would have happened if that family had not messed with the sorcerer.”

“That beast caused it all.”

“We need to appease the Beast!”

The villagers became more and more desperate as time went on. People struggle everyday just to find something to soothe their hunger; although admittedly it isn't that easy when nature is fighting against you. 

She became their sacrifice. 

As the soul travels through the small winding path that cut across the Manjusaka field, tears falling from his face as he witnesses the good and bad that once occurred in his life.

The Higanbana possesses the ability to recall the past life of a person. As the soul travels through the flower fields, the sweet aura makes them see all the memories of their life fully plays out in their mind clear as day. Until they reach the entrance to the Underworld, and then all of those memories would be left behind among the flowers, then they are just an empty shell of the person they once were, ready to begin anew or be damned for their mortal sins.

Her eyes follow his every moment without fears of being seen.

After all, he cannot see her; mortals can't see natural spirits, just as their eyes are blind to the gods.

They were bound to be apart.

Just as they were a hundred years ago.

A ghostly smile graces her face as the spirit busily focused on her own memories: She traveled through the bushes with a burning bitterness. To the village and to the accursed beast for it is the cause of her problems. She was too distracted to notice a slope directly in front of her way until it was too late. She rolled her way down to a beautiful hidden valley deep in the mountain that was teaming with life, and ended up covered in dirt and leaves. A shadow appeared hidden the light away with it massive form. There before her, a wolf-like creature standing on two legs with a long horns on top of the head, sharp fangs and claws, and fur dark as the night. 

Yet those black soulful eyes were so human, something that she did not notice back then. 

He had lost the ability to speak, and instead growled like an animal. Even so, somehow he managed to lead her to the makeshift cottage miles away, surrounded by a garden of herbs. 

A small subconscious part of her mind recognized that this creature before her is still the same gentle healer of the past. If only she noticed that sooner.

Their first period of living together were a series of high tension as she hated him so while the Beast completely pretended that he didn't take in an unwanted guest. Although everyday he still cooked meals for two of them and even turned one of the empty room into a comfortable bedroom, just for her.

She spent her time ignoring him as much as possible. While he tended his precious medicinal herbs, she would be inside her room. Letting the time go by like a summer breeze. It was not until she caught him tending to an injured doe —carefully wrapping herbs and bandages around the bleeding wound while not letting his claws harm the creature— that she came upon an astonishing realization. 

A couple of hares happily slept on his lap and a group of foxes played around the garden. The doe he was tending to was entirely at peace, letting him heal her. They didn’t see him as a terrifying Beast but a compassionate soul of a man with a heart of gold. They look past his appearance, only knows him for who he is. 

“Let me help.”

He looked up at her. For a moment, she saw him not as the Beast, but as the man he once was. She decided then and there to have him a chance. Maybe he not that bad after all.

Since then they spent more times together than before. He taught her about all the different healing plants, mostly by pointing or use his claw to write down onto the ground, and often she would tease him for his horrible writing. Although he never once told her about his curse even if she insisted upon discovering a single plant that strangely never bloom hidden away in his room. 

By day, she learned to befriend the curious creatures of the forest. By night, together they will watched the stars high above dancing across the night sky. And those times when loneliness creeps in, he would let her cuddle against his surprisingly soft fur, using his larger frame to protect her as he purred to her ears like a lullaby. They spent their short time together peacefully just like that. Oh, how she wish that the moment would last forever. 

Until…

She remembers the flash of gold, the sparkling silver, the bright red, all entwined with the sound of music. 

People dancing and laughing. 

The joy of festivities.

A new town risen from the ashes of old. 

She was so mesmerized as she spent day after day spying on the new life unfolded before her eyes.

How excited she was when she saw them prepared for the festival of stars as the town soaked in colors and flowers, four days before the end of year.

She begged him to let her go to the event. And as the kind soul he is, without hesitation he let her be. The night of her departure, he clumsily wrote on the ground that he had something he would like to tell her after her three days of celebrations. She happily agreed, promise to come back as soon as possible and then she run away leaving him behind by the doorway of their cottage. 

She was a liar. 

A liar.

She broke their promise.

She was too lost in the music as the colorful surroundings blinded her. She danced and danced in a lovely red and gold costume. Too careless to realize that instead of three she had stayed for four full days. 

It wasn't until his image suddenly crossed her mind that she stop dancing. It was near midnight as terror floods her being.

She ran.

She ran through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. She just hoped she could make it in time, even as the branches scratched against her skin, tore the dress or the rocks beneath cut her feet. None of it mattered, for she just needed to return to his side.

When she did make it to their home, she saw him.

Lying in the exact location when they said goodbye, by the garden in front of the doorway.

He smiled at her, eyes shone with love as his life departed his body. She saw his mouth opened slightly as if he was trying to spoke but before he could form a word, those ebony eyes closed forever when he gave out one last breath. Beside him, a brilliant crimson flower in its full glory.

A Manjusaka.

She ran towards him, tears filled her eyes as she cradled his body and noticed how the familiar warmth turned ice cold. She realized then that his life was tied to the flower. If it bloomed, then he would die. In all the times they spent together, if only she had been brave enough to tell him her feelings. If only. She cried out her love for him in vain as he peacefully laid there in an everlasting sleep.

It was too late.

For him and for her.

The flower spirit awaken from her dream as she noticed the human soul is almost at the end of his journey. 

The man before her now is no longer the same man she once loved. She has lost count of how many times she’s seen him being reincarnated into a new life, over and over again.  
He may look the same but he is so different.

The memories of her were long gone. 

His heart was and still is belonged to a beautiful woman with hair bright as the sun and eyes shines with stars. His beloved wife who passed away before him years ago and he's now enraptured in their shared memories. 

He had long since moved on from her.

She was the one who stuck in the past.

The spirit of the Manjusaka watches as the soul reaches the entrance of underworld. She watches how he suddenly shivers before quickly turn back to looks straight in her eyes.  
It always too late for them. 

The moment he remembers her also the moment where all memories disappeared from his mind. All that left was a single word. 

A very meaningful word.

A word that stuck with him to the very core of existence.

“Rey.”

She watches as the word turns into nothingness as he once again forgets her and passes to the next life.

It's her fate after all.

Once the flowers of Manjusaka bloom, their leaves would fall, and when their leaves grow, the flowers wilt. Just as star-crossed lovers who are destined to be apart. That is why to mortals, Higanbana is the flowers of death and separation. 

It was a curse.

One that she must bear.


End file.
